Mystery | From the Pen of Mae Clair

Are you ready for some zigzagging? I was tagged by the amazing Mackenzie Crowne in a zigzag challenge to search for the word ‘look’ in my current WIP. If you don’t know Mac, you definitely need to become acquainted. I encourage you to visit her blog, Mac’s Mad Mania where there’s always something wonderful to be found, including inspiring information on breast cancer survival. While you’re there, be sure to give Mac’s stellar zigzag snippet a look-see. She even posted some visual eye candy to go with it, bless her romantic soul!

My task as a willing victim participant is to find the first use of “look” in my WIP and post the surrounding paragraphs. The MS I’m presently working on is a contemporary mystery/romance called ECLIPSE LAKE. In this scene my hero, Dane Carlisle, has just told his adopted son, Jesse, he wants Jesse to accompany him on a trip across the country to his home town. Not only isn’t Jesse thrilled by the idea, but he didn’t realize his father had family.

~ooOOoo~

“Seriously, Dad?”

Jesse slouched in his chair. “Why can’t I stay here? Summer’s just starting and I don’t want to spend it in the mountains. I’m seventeen, not a kid.”

“I know that.” He’d argued it in his head for over a week, but couldn’t go back to Onyx alone. Maybe it was Alicia, doing her part to keep them together from beyond the grave. Sometimes the sparse fifteen year age gap separating him from his son made Dane feel more like a tyrannical big brother than a father.

Time to drop the bombshell. “You’ve never been east, and…I grew up in Pennsylvania. I have family there.”

Jesse’s expression ran the gamut from annoyed to intrigued. “Family?” He leaned forward, shoving his dinner plate away. “You told me your parents were dead.”

“Sometimes people say things because it’s easier than explaining the truth.”

Dane gripped his water glass, swirling a few ice chips against the sides. He wondered how Jonah would react when he received the letter relaying his intention to visit. I know we had our problems growing up, but I need to see you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when Mom died.

“Don’t talk to me like I’m a kid,” Jesse said sharply. His expression was tight, offsetting the deep green of his eyes and the stark ebony fall of his wavy hair. He looked so much like Alicia, Dane felt his throat constrict.

“You’re right.” Damn, but it was hard remembering Jesse was practically a grown man. “I didn’t think I’d ever go back to Onyx, so it was easier to avoid talking about my family. My father died when I was a kid and my mother nine years ago. She had liver cancer.”

An alcoholic who was screwed up in the head.

He’d keep that knowledge to himself, along with the crushing reminder he hadn’t been with her at the end.

~ooOOoo~

Thanks again for nominating me, Mac. That was fun

And now for the five authors I admire who I’d like to tag. Start zigzagging, ladies. Can’t wait to see your posts!

Jessi Gage
Laura Lee Nutt
L. J. Kentowski
Loni Flowers
Calisa Rhose

~ooOOoo

I invite you to LOOK ahead, and hop back to my blog on Black Friday 11/23 for your chance to win an Amazon or B&N Gift Card during the BLACK FRIDAY BLOG HOP. There are plenty of other prizes and goodies to be had too, so be sure to zigzag back and join in the fun!

The Twelfth Sun is a fictional nineteenth century schooner and the name of my latest novel. I just signed a contract with my publisher, Lyrical Press, last week for an anticipated release of August 2013. I’ll be diving into pre-edits any day now. It feels good to be starting the publication process all over again before WEATHERING ROCK is released on October 8th. This time, I know the ropes and have a better idea of what to expect.

So I thought I’d share a glimpse of TWELFTH SUN, because I’m sure to be blabbering about it in the weeks and months ahead.

Although there aren’t any paranormal elements in this one (shocking, I know), it is brimming with mystery. A contemporary romantic suspense story, it involves the hunt for a valuable journal belonging to a shipboard representative who was a passenger on the Twelfth Sun when she sank in 1836. Several antiquities collectors are vying for possession of the journal including my heroine’s housebound uncle, Gavin.

Reagan Cassidy agrees to purchase it from reclusive billionaire Eric Southern on her uncle’s behalf but, because she knows nothing about marine artifacts, Gavin asks her to coordinate with his friend, Dr. Elijah Cross. Reagan agrees, expecting the marine archeologist to be old and stodgy. Instead, she gets a twenty-five year old genius with a Ph.D., quirky personality, and drop-dead gorgeous looks that make her forget she’s a respectable thirty-five her old business owner.

Their initial encounter is a disaster and, when they arrive at Sothern’s seaside mansion, they find themselves in competition with several other collectors for the journal.

Circumstances go from bad to worse when Sothern announces a competition ‘treasure hunt’ to decide who will ultimately walk away with the journal. As a result, Reagan is forced into working with Elijah in solving a series of riddles that begin to form a mysterious pattern. Complicating matters, her brilliant hunky partner is as gifted in seduction as he is behind the lectern, and her resistance only goes so far.

Intrigued? Dang, I hope so!

This was a fun story to write, especially coming up with the riddles. I know Six Sentence Sunday is vanishing from the radar at the end of January, but I’ll be sharing snippets of TWELFTH SUN one way or another. And, ooooh, I do love nautical superstition and folklore, so expect some Mythical Monday posts in that vein.

From werewolves and time travel, to shipwrecks and mystery, works for me. I hope it does for you too!